They promise laughter, fun

St. Joseph's High School presents "You Can't Take It With You."

St. Joseph's High School presents "You Can't Take It With You."

December 12, 2006|JIM MEENAN Tribune Staff Writer

If everything goes as well as the students think it will in St. Joseph's High School's production of "You Can't Take It With You," well, you may end up wishing you could ... take it with you, that is. The cast is confident the play will make the audience smile Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Little Theatre at Saint Mary's College. "They are going to get a lot of good laughs out of it," said sophomore Alexa Scott, who plays Alice Sycamore, engaged to Anthony Kirby. The play is about two families of entirely different classes and styles who are in conflict when the Kirbys' son, Tony, becomes engaged to the Sycamores' daughter, Alice. "My family is the conservative high-class family that doesn't want me to get involved with this crazy family," said senior Drew Olson, who plays Tony. "The Sycamore family has a lot of different quirks, and they just do whatever they want to do and whatever's fun for them. And my family is focused on business and being very elite." The cast assures, however, comedy not drama ensues. "I think there will be a lot going on, and there won't be a moment where they won't be interested in what's going on the stage because there is always something going on," Olson said. Senior Monica Szumski, who plays the role of Penny, mother of the Sycamore clan, may sum it up best. "It is insane, fun and crazy," she said. Yes, after the heavy drama of "Miracle Worker," the Helen Keller story that St. Joseph's performed earlier in the fall, students have responded almost en masse for this lighter play, director Doug Miller said. In fact, 60 tried out. "We are really excited about it," he said. "And we had a lot of people to choose from, and they made it really hard (to pick the cast). "They are doing a great job...," he added. "I think they are really going to pull off a great show." Not that playing a comedy, let alone performing any play, doesn't have its own set of challenges. Take Olson's role of Tony. "It's different because it's a main role, and I have not done that very much," Olson said. "It's a more serious character and it's harder because I don't have a lot of different quirks that other people have, and there is no personality that I have to pursue. So it's interesting to try and act it and do it well." It's challenging because it's a bigger role for Szumski. "So, memorizing the lines is kind of difficult," she said. "But we have a really good director so it's working out well." "It's kind of weird," said Zach Stangebye of his role as Grandpa Martin Vanderhof of the Sycamore family. "Usually I play angry people, but it's kind of a nice change." Miller calls the show, written by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, a classic, noting it won an Oscar for best picture in the 1930s. And Stangebye pointed out that amid the humor, his character, Grandpa, offers a lesson. "That you need to relax and not let life completely overwhelm you," he said. "That's the message of Grandpa at the end."Staff writer Jim Meenan: jmeenan@sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6342